Jeeps come out at night for Light Bars & Brews
Jeeps will get to shine their lights for all to see during the Light Bars & Brews event at the Bantam Jeep Heritage Festival on Saturday night, June 14.
A more recent addition to the Jeep Festival, Light Bars & Brews gives Jeep hobbyists a chance to show off the alterations that they’ve made to their lighting setups. According to Ray Shumaker, a member of the Jeep festival board, some Jeep owners love to customize their Jeeps as much as they love to drive them.
“Lots of folks have different colored lights and arrangements and all sorts of stuff on their Jeeps,” Shumaker said. “You can put different colored lights in the grill. You can make the lights change color. You can make them beep or blink to the beat of the music. You can do all sorts of things.”
Shumaker says that the Light Bars & Brews event was conceived three years ago as an attempt to replicate the excitement of Friday night’s downtown Jeep Invasion on Saturday night at the Cooper’s Lake Campground in Slippery Rock Township.
“On Friday in Butler, we have the downtown Invasion, and a lot of people couldn’t attend that,” Shumaker said. “They wanted to do a similar thing at Cooper’s Lake, so we decided to try to create a mini-version of the invasion there.”
During the event, which starts at 8 p.m., the participating Jeeps will be lined up in a semicircle at the general parking area of the campground, with each owner getting a chance to show off their light displays.
First, second and third place prizes will be awarded in three different categories: Most Colorful, Best Use of Lights and Out of the Dark, an award for those who are new to customizing their light setups. The Out of the Dark category was added at last year’s show.
“Last year, we came up with the idea of trying to get more people to come and not be intimidated by the lights, even if you only have only one or two or three lights on your Jeep,” Shumaker said.
Cash prizes for the Most Colorful and Best Use of Lights awards are $150, $125 and $100 for first, second and third place, respectively. The winner of the Out of the Dark award will receive a gift certificate from Quake LED, one of the sponsors of the event.
As the other half of the name implies, both beer and wine will be served during the event. It will be supplied by multiple local breweries, including North Country Brewing of Slippery Rock and Recon Brewing of Butler.
Last year, Patrick Shroyer took first place in the Best Use of Lights category, while Jeffrey Whitling took first in the Most Colorful category. Maeanne Robinson won the prize for Out of the Dark.
